McLean Meets Ornette, On His Own Terms
McLean bridges hard bop and the avant-garde without abandoning either, and the result is genuinely exciting.
By 1967, Jackie McLean had been paying close attention to what Ornette Coleman was doing, and New and Old Gospel is where that interest became a full collaboration. The album pairs McLean with Ornette Coleman on trumpet — not alto, trumpet — and the two of them push against each other in ways that keep both musicians honest. This isn't McLean abandoning his roots. The hard bop feel is still there. But the harmonics are looser, the structures more open, and there's a genuine conversation happening between two players who see music differently enough to make the friction interesting.
The rhythm section matters here too. Billy Higgins on drums keeps things grounded without locking the soloists into a box, and that balance is part of why the album works as well as it does. Coleman on trumpet is a different animal than Coleman on alto — the sound is rawer, less fluid, and that roughness actually suits the material. McLean's alto, by contrast, sounds focused and purposeful. He knows exactly what he wants to say, even when the harmonic language around him is shifting.
This is a solid, interesting record rather than a perfect one. Some moments feel like the two principals are still figuring out how much to give each other. But that tension is part of the point. McLean made a lot of good albums for Blue Note during this period — It's Time! (1964) with Charles Tolliver and Herbie Hancock is probably more immediately satisfying — but New and Old Gospel is the one that shows him genuinely taking a risk. If you already like McLean and you're curious where he was headed in the late sixties, this is the right place to look.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Jackie McLean
All 46 albums →
The musicians on this record
New York Is Now 1968
Ornette Coleman
plays trumpet here
plays trumpet here
♫
The Oracle 1989
Billy Higgins
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
